A single introduction of Yersinia pestis to Brazil during the 3rd plague pandemic

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 9;14(1):e0209478. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209478. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Yersinia pestis was introduced to Brazil during the third plague pandemic and currently exists in several recognized foci. There is currently limited available phylogeographic data regarding Y. pestis in Brazil. We generated whole genome sequences for 411 Y. pestis strains from six Brazilian foci to investigate the phylogeography of Y. pestis in Brazil; these strains were isolated from 1966 to 1997. All 411 strains were assigned to a single monophyletic clade within the 1.ORI population, indicating a single Y. pestis introduction was responsible for the successful establishment of endemic foci in Brazil. There was a moderate level of genomic diversity but little population structure among the 411 Brazilian Y. pestis strains, consistent with a radial expansion wherein Y. pestis spread rapidly from the coast to the interior of Brazil and became ecologically established. Overall, there were no strong spatial or temporal patterns among the Brazilian strains. However, strains from the same focus tended to be more closely related and strains isolated from foci closer to the coast tended to fall in more basal positions in the whole genome phylogeny than strains from more interior foci. Overall, the patterns observed in Brazil are similar to other locations affected during the 3rd plague pandemic such as in North America and Madagascar.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • History, 19th Century
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Pandemics / history*
  • Phylogeny
  • Phylogeography
  • Plague / epidemiology
  • Plague / history*
  • Plague / microbiology
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis
  • Yersinia pestis / classification
  • Yersinia pestis / genetics*
  • Yersinia pestis / isolation & purification

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Cowden Endowment at Northern Arizona University, and by the United States of America Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate via award HSHQDC-10-C-00139 to DMW and PK. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.